PM Modi ‘refuses’ to meet Conrad Sangma yet again

Guwahati, February 2019:

Conrad Sangma, who has been hailed as a ‘hero of the Northeast’ by many for bringing together the political parties of the Northeast to unanimously oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has gone to Delhi with an agenda.

Accompanied by distinguished dignitaries including AGP President Atul Bora, Sangma has been instrumental in garnering support for the anti-Bill movement from political parties such as the Shiv Sena, JD(U) among others.

The main objective of the Northeastern delegation which is camped out in Delhi is to meet the top BJP leaders. At a convention held in Guwahati, in fact, the Northeastern leaders had resolved to meet the Prime Minister and President of India to apprise them regarding the ‘resentment’ over the Bill.

Despite receiving a “positive response” from Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Conrad has been unable to get an audience with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sources have cited that the PM is “busy”. It is to be mentioned that Conrad had similarly failed to meet the PM during his last visit to national capital Delhi.

The Prime Minister’s refusal to meet the delegation of the Northeast despite protests over the Bill which have engulfed the region shows the Central Government’s callousness towards the pain of the people of the Northeast. The BJP has received further boosting in their agenda of implementing the alleged “vote bank securing Bill” by the assurance of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party that they will vote in favor of the Bill.

It has also been suggested by many senior BJP leaders, including General Secretary Ram Madhav, that the implementation of the Bill is a “national issue” for the current administration, thus, the refusal of Modi to meet the delegation suggests that a conspiracy is afoot to pass the Bill through as a ‘supplementary Bill’.

The delegates will return to their respective states today.